B. Clugston Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Nine of the books were part of my school curriculum growing up in Canada. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 (edited) I guess I've read 27. This list, as noted above, is very incomplete. Many are missing, Miller, Joyce (Ullyses I think) et al. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Canterbury Tales by Chaucer Catch-22 by Joseph Heller Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller East of Eden by John Steinbeck Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes Grendel by John Champlin Gardner Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman Lord of the Flies by William Golding My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Color Purple by Alice Walker The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare Edited September 9, 2008 by jazzbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Funny, I think all those books should be required reading... well, except perhaps for the Harry Potter series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Funny, I think all those books should be required reading... well, except perhaps for the Harry Potter series. And yet those may be the only "banned" books suitable for pre-teens (besides the Twain of course). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quincy Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 This thread may get banned! Is Sarah here? I just got an email saying this is Sarah's banned list. Snopes already has an entry saying it's not. And now I come across this thread. Damn stuff happens fast on the net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 (edited) I guess I've read 27. This list, as noted above, is very incomplete. Many are missing, Miller, Joyce (Ullyses I think) et al. James M. Cain's Postman should be on a list of banned books in the U.S. as well. There's got to be tons more. Forgetting Miller from such a list is inexcusable, though, now that you mention him. Edited September 9, 2008 by Jazzmoose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 not that many, but I guess quite some of the german books I've read were prohibited at one time or the other... but then again who cares... also why the hell would the US put Rousseau and Shakespeare on the banned books list? They claim to be a freedom-loving nation, don't they? Quite a weird thread, I wasn't aware that there ever was that much censorship in the US! here's what I've read - in addition, "Color Purple" has been lying around next to my bed for three or four years now... have started once but ran out of time... will come to it again some day. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger also some of: Canterbury Tales by Chaucer Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau Decameron by Boccaccio Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 I've read 26, but they were probably more accessible over here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee only 8 and except for Brave New World and Little Red Riding Hood i had to read them for school... some of the better school reading except for To kill a mockingbird which i hated (and we spent like 3 months with that one) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 ...except for To kill a mockingbird which i hated... You, sir, have been officially cut out of my will! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 most hated english class reading (probably three months as well) - most definitely never to be banned in the US: Willa Cather (?)'s "O, Pioneer" funniest english class reading was likely Langston Hughes' "Not Without Laughter"... we wouldn't have picked that one if not for yours truly, of course... (I had read some of his hilarious Jesse B. Simple stories before, for my own pleasure). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 most hated here not to kill a mocking bird, that was third, but the volume of wild west stories our teacher had edited, only author i remember is louis l'amour, that one was half a year, david guterson, forgot the title, something with cedars... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 ...except for To kill a mockingbird which i hated... You, sir, have been officially cut out of my will! Great! So can I have your records? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetrylover3 Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 48... and now I have a new list of books to read. What ever happened to the point of view that said it was up to parents to supervise their children's reading? Or that reading is an integral part of the life of the mind and necessary to the exercise of freedom? My very Republican mother battled the local Public Library to allow me in the Adult Library when I was in the fifth grade, knowing that the more I read the less likely it would be that I'd be influenced by any one book or the kind of demagoguery that passes for rational discussion of the issues. People who read widely know that books that appear on these lists will usually either disappear or need to be read and discussed openly in the "marketplace of ideas". Censorship at this level is usually a sign of laziness or ignorance. Certainly there are works published whose dissemination needs to be restricted but aside from those that present a clear and present danger to the community, there's very little that an adult shouldn't be allowed to decide on the merits whether to read or not to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepcat1950 Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 One has to add The Jewel of Medina by American journalist Sherry Jones (which is about the young wife of Mohammed) which was going to be published by Random House, but has been withdrawn because they feared that the book might provoke attacks by muslims. The book will now be published by Gibson Square, UK. Who are those "mind controllers" who claim to tell us what's appropriate for our reading??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Nekid Lunch? . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeweil Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 ... also why the hell would the US put Rousseau and Shakespeare on the banned books list? They claim to be a freedom-loving nation, don't they? Quite a weird thread, I wasn't aware that there ever was that much censorship in the US! Just my thoughts - Mark Twain banned? I don't get it. Who did this? Too bad the site linked doesn't explain the reasons ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Just my thoughts - Mark Twain banned? I don't get it. Who did this? Too bad the site linked doesn't explain the reasons ... In spite of the stereotype of book banners as rightwing fanatics, Twain is more of a victim of liberal guilt; the word "nigger", sprinkled liberally in Huckleberry Finn was determined to be too harmful to African-American children. After all, if it wasn't for Twain, they might not have realized that racism was a problem in the deep South back in the mid-1800s.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Damn, and I'll bet Alexander's typing up a much better and less offensive explanation of that right now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 most hated here not to kill a mocking bird, that was third, but the volume of wild west stories our teacher had edited, only author i remember is louis l'amour, that one was half a year, david guterson, forgot the title, something with cedars... I've read my share of Louis L'Amour, but I can't imagine anyone actually teaching his stuff in school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 At this time of year, I usually teach a unit on banned books (often accompanied by reading "Fahrenheit 451" and Bradbury's short story "Usher II"). I assign the students to research a banned book and give an oral report on why it was banned. I also have them read an excerpt as a part of their presentation, which I hope will encourage them to read the whole book. The last time I gave this assignment, one of the banned books on the list I gave the students to choose from was by a holocaust denier. Some of the parents objected strongly. I included the book because I wanted to demonstrate that sometimes books that most reasonable people would WANT to ban should STILL be printed (freedom of the press and all that). It's easy to say that books like Harry Potter or "Catcher in the Rye" shouldn't be banned. It's another thing to say that "Mein Kampf" shouldn't be banned. If freedom of expression is not extended to those we disagree with, then there is no freedom of expression. The holocaust denier book was called "The Hoax of the 20th Century" by Arthur R. Butz. The student who was researching it couldn't find the book in any local library, which pretty much amounts to the same thing as a ban... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 ...except for To kill a mockingbird which i hated... You, sir, have been officially cut out of my will! do what you have to do but don't complain when you find yourself sitting on a cloud together with that teacher some day... he seems like a nice guy (maybe he is one), even is a jazz fan of sorts... thing is he just got like two hours of stuff to say and afterwards isn't shy to repeat himself... he never prepared classes and always started at the same point for several weeks in a row, reportedly he had been a decent teacher in the late sixties... he even taught louis l'amour at the university... guess he just didn't want to read shakespeare anymore... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 I've read 26, but they were probably more accessible over here! It should probably be noted, at least for our foreign friends, that although these books (and many more) may all have been "banned" at some point, only a small handful have ever truly been inaccessible. When we say "banned," more often then not it's simply some silly conservative politician in some small town (or maybe Boston ) who objects to a book for some reason - but the vast majority of the country is not in favor of banning books. The Harry Potter books, for example, are objected to only by some Religious ultra-conservatives who dislike any non-God displays of magic; they may have been technically banned in Jesus Saves, Arkansas, but believe me they were very much available elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 One has to add The Jewel of Medina by American journalist Sherry Jones (which is about the young wife of Mohammed) which was going to be published by Random House, but has been withdrawn because they feared that the book might provoke attacks by muslims. The book will now be published by Gibson Square, UK. Who are those "mind controllers" who claim to tell us what's appropriate for our reading??? Imo, that's not so much an example of "banning" than of the extremists winning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 At this time of year, I usually teach a unit on banned books (often accompanied by reading "Fahrenheit 451" and Bradbury's short story "Usher II"). I assign the students to research a banned book and give an oral report on why it was banned. I also have them read an excerpt as a part of their presentation, which I hope will encourage them to read the whole book. The last time I gave this assignment, one of the banned books on the list I gave the students to choose from was by a holocaust denier. Some of the parents objected strongly. I included the book because I wanted to demonstrate that sometimes books that most reasonable people would WANT to ban should STILL be printed (freedom of the press and all that). It's easy to say that books like Harry Potter or "Catcher in the Rye" shouldn't be banned. It's another thing to say that "Mein Kampf" shouldn't be banned. If freedom of expression is not extended to those we disagree with, then there is no freedom of expression. The holocaust denier book was called "The Hoax of the 20th Century" by Arthur R. Butz. The student who was researching it couldn't find the book in any local library, which pretty much amounts to the same thing as a ban... Good job, Alexander! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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